


half light

by spookyscully



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: F/M, i'm in too deep dshfjiker, set in s2, this is just fluff tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 11:50:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9895265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookyscully/pseuds/spookyscully
Summary: "“Come here.” It takes a moment for Bruce to deduce the meaning of her words. He remains at a loss until he hears Selina patting the small space beside her body, and realizes with a start that Selina is telling him to climb into her bed. Beside her. At night."or: bruce is cold, and selina has a solution. set during season two, while bruce is staying with selina.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i don't really know much about the interior of selina's house on this show, so apologies if i got anything wrong!  
> this fic is just shameless fluff. i promise.

The darkness seeps in through the windows, eliminating any light that the small lamp on the bedside table can offer. Bruce sighs and squints, attempting to read the book he has picked up from a street peddler. Granted, it’s overly long and not particularly interesting, but it is not as if he has the means to visit the local library anytime soon.

“Having trouble there?” Selina questions, startling Bruce so much that he visibly flinches. Evidentially, his reflexes leave much to be desired.

“It’s dark,” Bruce replies, placing his book down onto the floor. There is certainly no use in reading when you cannot see the words. Selina nods and raises an eyebrow.

“No shit.” She places her own book down, lifting an arm in order to put her messy hair into a ponytail. Selina shakes her head, feels that her hair is secure, and settles into her chair, book back in hand. Bruce cannot help but think that the whole thing is utterly domestic.

As Selina reads, Bruce observes. He takes note of the little things, such as how her eyes dart swiftly across the page as she takes in the many strings of sentences. It is odd seeing her do something with such urgency, as Selina is consistently careful. Her actions are always slow and calculated with extreme accuracy. Reading may be a mundane activity for others, but when it comes to Selina, it is painstakingly intimate. A shiver rips through Bruce’s body as he comes to a surprising realization.

She trusts him enough to see her this way. This vulnerable, walls down state is something that few people are lucky enough to be graced with. For reasons completely unknown to Bruce, Selina has deemed him worthy. The thought alone causes him to spiral into a mode of euphoria, and he has to refrain from grinning.

“How can you read that?” He inquires, wishing to ignite something much more two-sided than simple observation.

“I can see in the dark,” Selina shrugs, turning the page.

“Really?”

“Mhm.”

“Huh,” Bruce says plainly as he searches desperately for something else to say. “I, um, never took you for someone who enjoys reading.”

Selina glares at him, her cat-like eyes peeking out from over the cover of her novel. “What, is reading a ‘rich kids only’ deal or something?”

“No! No,” Bruce amends, inwardly beating himself up. He never seems to think before speaking, and when it comes to Selina, that kind of pattern can grow to be incredibly dangerous. “I just meant that I’ve never really seen you read before. That’s all.”

Selina’s glare remains intact as she states, “you haven’t seen me do lots of things,” and continues to scrutinize her book. Bruce exhales heavily.

“I am going to sleep now, if that is okay with you.”

“Okay kid. You don’t have to ask, you know,” Selina responds while keeping her eyes trained on her pages. “It’s not like I’m your mother or anything.”

He can sense the sadness that comes with her statement in consideration of her mother abandoning her many years prior. Selina’s lack of parents is something that he shares with her. Although he wishes for his mother and father back more than anything, he is glad that he is able to understand Selina in some capacity. Their lives may differ in every other way imaginable, but they will always have this one thing that links them.

Sometimes, Bruce can see the world from Selina’s eyes. The view lasts only for a second, but during these rare moments, he experiences countless unfamiliar things. The loneliness he knows she feels, however, is the one component of her life that mirrors his. They were both abandoned, albeit in contrasting ways. Each of them is missing a part of themselves.

Maybe, Bruce thinks as he lays down on the couch, they can put each other back together.

“You should probably grab another blanket or something,” Selina advises as Bruce pulls a single yellow blanket over his body. “It’s like, super cold tonight, and I've got no heat.” Bruce nods, and it is only then that he notices Selina has closed her book in favor for studying him.

“Am I doing something wrong?” He wonders aloud, a soft blush tainting his cheeks. Selina smirks. Teasing Bruce seems to be one of her favorite pastimes.

“Nope,” she says, and strides over to her bed. It is small- much smaller than Bruce is used to seeing- but Selina is a small girl, so Bruce supposes that it’s just the right size for her. As she crawls under her thick covers, Bruce is reminded of the way cats tend to settle themselves before sitting down. He can most definitely see why people tend to refer to her using the nickname Cat.

The single room in which Selina, and now Bruce, inhabits is suddenly coated with a heavy layer of silence. A few minutes go by, and Bruce assumes that Selina has fallen asleep. They have had a long day, filled with collecting money and eating one too many hotdogs. Bruce does not think that he has felt as alive and free since before the death of his parents. Selina seems to reach right into him, her touch weeding out all of the bad and helping him hold onto only the good.

Stealing is not something that Bruce technically agrees with. However, he and Selina only steal from people who deserve it. This fact alone comforts Bruce, and sends him into a realm of security. He is nothing like the man who murdered his parents. After all, he makes sure that no harm comes to those that are innocent.

“Bruce?” Selina’s voice rings out through the room, starling Bruce and forcefully pulling him away from his inner musings.

“Yeah?” Whenever Selina talks, Bruce seems to be able to do nothing but listen. She’s captivating all around, but her voice pierces through Bruce unlike anything ever before. If he could capture the sound of her voice and play it on a loop every night, he would. God knows that he needs something to lull him to sleep, seeing as he is scarcely able to keep his eyes closed. 

“Turn off the lamp,” Selina instructs him. She must notice the way his hands are shaking as he heeds to her command, because she asks him, “you cold?”

“Kind of,” Bruce admits, settling himself back into the couch. The piece of furniture is incredibly stiff, and certainly not ideal for someone who suffers from insomnia, but he refuses to complain. Selina has graciously allowed Bruce into her home, and he does not wish to seem ungrateful.

“Come here.” It takes a moment for Bruce to deduce the meaning of her words. He remains at a loss until he hears Selina patting the small space beside her body, and realizes with a start that Selina is telling him to climb into her bed. Beside her. At night.

“Um…” Bruce trails off nervously. It’s not as if he does not want to be near her- far from that, actually. He is simply apprehensive. It is not like Selina to place this kind of offer on the table. Besides, Bruce still has not shaken the feeling that Selina constantly has some ulterior motive.

“Relax,” Selina huffs, and Bruce can see her figure scooting over to presumably make more room. “You said yourself that you’re cold. Besides, my blankets are ten times warmer than yours.”

Bruce pauses. “I can retrieve another blanket for myself.”

“What? You scared?” The question is meant to be taunting, but Bruce can hear the disappointment laced in Selina’s teasing voice. The last thing he wants to do is cause her any harm, whether it be emotional or physical (not that Bruce could take Selina, anyway).

“No. I trust you,” he tells her, because it’s the truth. Bruce can count the number of trustworthy people in his life at the moment on one hand. Selina is the first finger counted. She is always first.

Selina Kyle. Bruce Wayne’s first so many things.

He climbs into bed with her, and suddenly every bit of awkwardness he felt at the suggestion of this disappears. In fact, awkward is the last word Bruce would use to describe this moment. This is good. This is right.

Selina drapes half of her comforter over Bruce delicately. He cannot help but notice that she takes this task as seriously as a carefully planned heist, and suddenly Bruce is overwhelmed with emotion for the girl beside him. She is his rock. The thing that has kept him afloat for all this time, especially when he felt as if he was drowning in the heartbreak that encircled him following his parent’s demise. Without her, there would be nothing to tether him to reality.

Selina saved him. Not only that, but she continues to save him every day that she chooses to remain in his whirlwind of a life. No matter how far away they are from each other, Bruce always has the knowledge that Selina is there for him, and that in itself is more than enough.

“Thank you,” he whispers into the darkness. He wonders if Selina can hear him, or if his words are too quiet. His soundless question becomes answered when Selina wraps an arm around his waist. Bruce knows that, if questioned about it, Selina will claim that her actions are purely for the preservation of bodily heat. Luckily, Bruce knows better by now.

“All good?” Selina inquires, snuggling closer. Her head is inches away from Bruce’s own, and it takes everything inside of him not to lean over and kiss it.

“Yeah,” Bruce answers instead. Selina nods, closing her eyes. Once Bruce can visibly see the rise and fall of her sleeping frame, he places a quick kiss on her temple. His lips feel tingly afterwards, and his whole body is on fire. The strength of his feelings for Selina overcome Bruce, and in a blissful sense of happiness he adds, “I’m great.”

**Author's Note:**

> baby batcat is the only good thing about gotham tbh.
> 
> i hope that you enjoyed this fic!! i literally wrote it in a night because i love baby batcat so much.


End file.
